37 Lessons From the Internet

The internet is an incredible resource for learning. Also for watching wedding flash mobs and cats falling over. These 37 lessons are what I learned from the internet this week.

Oh, the confusion!

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About Michelle Lewsen

Michelle Lewsen is a copywriter with 18 years’ experience and a few shiny advertising awards. Now, as mum to three highly entertaining and thoroughly demanding little people, she writes to make sense of her life as a stay at home mother.

Her hope is that by sharing her imperfect parenting, struggles with work-life balance and the often laugh-out-loud chaos that her Adult ADHD brings, other imperfect parents can visit theycallmemummy.com to exhale and say, “me too.”

They Call Me Mummy has been honoured with many awards, making her a very proud mama of this blog baby of hers. Most notably, she was honoured as a Voice of the Year by BlogHer in 2013 (“Inspiration” category) and again in 2014 (“Heart” category).

This blog captures her life. Sometimes warm & fuzzy, sometimes shriek-out-loud funny. In her spare time, she's been writing a series of children’s books, which are going to knock your socks off. Your kids are going to adore them, so watch this space.

Comments

It is crazy making to get advice on the internet! Thanks for pulling these comments out and putting into perspective. As a former breastfeeding counselor, I remember well the mixed messages that made it hard for some women to ever feel comfortable nursing their babies privately much less publicly.

Thank you for being an advocate for the natural way(which should be a choice for them if they want it, and not discouraged, nor forced on them as the only way, as some cannot do so for many reasons). It’s hard enough when you’ve decided before you ever get pregnant, let alone having to fight for your rights once you have said child in your arms. It’s nice to have someone to help you fight for it.

My issue was two-fold.

Issue number one:
I first had to fight the hospital, who kept trying to feed my son formula when I signed no less than two dozen pages of forms forbidding it. I then had to fight them to send up my lactation consultant to help me(which was hard when the hospital refused to let my pump come into the hospital(if it is not sterilised here, it’s not “safe” but oh no, we won’t do it for you because then it is no longer new and unused and cannot be in the hospital…what.). I had to express into a cup and feed him with a spoon. I also slapped three nurses and got them banned from my room for trying to dump/actually taking and dumping the milk I had expressed. Once I got that done and got the heck out of the hospital, I then had to deal with…

Issue number two:
Dealing with the nosy people yanking my privacy blanket off me while I was hiding in a corner trying to not offend certain folks in certain places by using the designated nursing areas, then having them upset my son while he was having lunch.
I also remember quite a few of those where I either was very loud(and using creative flairs that replaced the swears) and proud about it(because I didn’t haul off and hit them), and one where I was (un)ashamedly violent by slapping (a man dared to do this, and then tried to condemn me for nursing my child the natural way) for doing that. I handed off my son to my friend(sis), and after adjusting myself, hit him. Once. He fell down, went BOOM! and then I went into my friends car, stuck the edges of a blanket out the window before closing it, then gave my son the rest of his well-deserved lunch. Afterward, I went back in, to find the guy trying to get me barred from that location, and instead finding himself banned. The ‘bee’s has since then been one of my favourite little guilty pleasures for when I need a day off.

I am now one of “those Mom’s”–one that gets in the face of anyone that puts down a new Mother for trying to nurse their child.

Breastfeeding, with the right support from friends, family and community can be wonderful. But it is a learned art that does not always come easy or naturally to some of us. And without the support of our community it can be VERY difficult. I got asked to leave an airport restaurant in 1991 when I was traveling alone with my son. It was awful and embarrassing. They offered the bathroom, but I refused to feed my son while sitting on a toilet in a public bathroom. On the way out with my hungry baby in one arm and his stroller and diaper bag in the other arm, I accidentally set off the emergency exit door alarm, which pleased me to no end. Apparently some other restaurant patron in the fine establishment of the Jamestown, NY airport had complained about me nursing him in a booth. Knowing that I really disrupted their “lovely” meal was a small consolation to such an unpleasant situation.

That is so awesome! I’m a pediatric nurse and luckily I did home health for a lady who had no prob with me pumping or sometimes even bringing my baby. I’d never imagine doin what those nurses did to u. I bottle fed in public cuz of what u delt with. Yet the funniest part is I’m dating my bestfriend and if he walked in while I was nursing said sry got imbarrassed and walked away I just dnt get it now that shes 6 my boobs r wonderful have been for 5yrs lol.

Its so funny because its true, I look to the internet first, especially for medical advice. I’m sure my doctor is tired of hearing, “The internet said its a brain tumor/stomach ulcer/gangrene”. Thank you for the laugh!

I love your blog, really I do. Whenever I’m having a crap day, I read one of your gems, and it honestly helps. My friend(sis) jokingly comments when I’m having a crap day, “GO read two Mummy blogs(meaning yours), then call me back”. Ninety percent of the time it makes my day a heckuva lot better.

What it comes down to is people are always looking for a reason to judge someone, whether it’s based on their income, race, clothing size, breastfeeding decisions, priorities, religion… We are always looking for a reason to make ourselves feel superior to others. They keep doing it because it doesn’t work. Even after an hour of humiliating and degrading others online, people still do not feel superior enough and they never will because the newsflash is they aren’t superior. This is what happens when we were all created equal, with an ego.

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Welcome to They Call Me Mummy! My hope is that by sharing my less-than-perfect parenting moments, struggles with identity as someone other than The Mother and the often laugh-out-loud chaos that my Adult ADHD brings to my life, They Call Me Mummy can be a place where other imperfect parents can come to exhale and say, "me too."